SPA Modeler

I guess they did it this way so you wouldn't have to do any masking but I think I would rather mask off the clear piece then worry about any rouge glue from the seam.

Floki wrote:I guess they did it this way so you wouldn't have to do any masking but I think I would rather mask off the clear piece then worry about any rouge glue from the seam.

Floki wrote:I guess they did it this way so you wouldn't have to do any masking but I think I would rather mask off the clear piece then worry about any rouge glue from the seam.

That's the thing though... if Meng were to think this through, the idea of avoiding masking just falls apart. If you paint the canopy frame separately from the clear part, you'd still have to mask the opening to protect the cockpit from the overspray. Even if you were to paint the frame as a separate part, you'd have to do some masking to differentiate between the outside camo colors and interior cockpit color.

I used liquid glue because the capillary action helps darken the edge of the clear part, which otherwise shows up as a very visible lighter colored strip around the entire perimeter of the canopy. I briefly toyed with the idea of painting the edges of the canopy in the interior color, which would've served the same purpose but decided I didn't want to expend that time and energy.

I think this is an acceptable result and careful masking and having a mottle camouflage right up to the edge of the canopy will help make the visible seam much less visible.

‘Tis a puzzler To be sure. As much as I struggle with clear parts, this type of design is even more frustrating for the reasons you stated?

You nailed this one!

Yeah, I've often thought that was a bad idea - kind of like the Tamiya P-51D.

Superb Work John as ever, I always love to see your extra detailing!

LyleW wrote:‘Tis a puzzler To be sure. As much as I struggle with clear parts, this type of design is even more frustrating for the reasons you stated?

You nailed this one!

Thanks Lyle! Yeah, that is my issue too... why make a tricky situation even trickier?

Stuart wrote:Yeah, I've often thought that was a bad idea - kind of like the Tamiya P-51D.

Superb Work John as ever, I always love to see your extra detailing!

Yes! A mistake that was not repeated by Tamiya on their more recent 1/32 P-51D kits...

Now that's a much better way of doing it!

Good job getting the canopy together, biut of an odd way to do this.